The optics and electronics industries rely upon inorganic compounds for fabrication of various components. However, these industries may benefit largely from the plethora of organic compounds, both known and unknown. Of the many potential applications of organic compounds to the above-mentioned industries, many relate to the electro-optic effect as described by Kerr (1875) and Pockels (1906). Additionally, frequency doubling by second harmonic generation (SHG) is often considered. SHG may be defined as the doubling of light's fundamental frequency.
A test to study SHG has been developed (Kurtz and Perry, 1968) which analyzes, for instance, the noncentrosymmetric crystal structure of organic compounds. Organic compounds which possess a noncentrosymmetric structure are generally said to be nonlinear.
Organic nonlinear optical materials displaying high SHG properties are potentially useful in applications which require high speed optical modulators. Such applications include high speed long distance data links and electric field sensors for use in electromagnetically noisy environments. In addition, such materials provide efficient wavelength shifting capability for optical and infrared remote sensing (e.g., of pollutant particulate concentration) and diode laser frequency doubling for optical data storage.
A common obstacle with nonlinear optical materials, such as nondeuterated 4'-dimethylamino-4-methylstilbazolium toluenesulfonate, is the existence of a group of infrared absorbances in the 1600-2000 nm region, a region which is extremely useful for optical applications like long distance optical fiber communications and eye-safe remote sensing. It is of increasing interest to prepare nonlinear optical materials which, while maintaining their conventional optical properties, do not exhibit infrared absorbances in the 1600-2000 nm region. Such absorbances are an obstacle since they interfere with, not only the optical properties, but the stability of the nonlinear optical materials as well. The instant invention, therefore, is based on the preparation of deuterated organic salts, such as the compound perdeuterated 4'-dimethylamino-4-methylstilbazolium p-toluenesulfonate and homologs thereof, which do not display infrared absorption in the 1600-2000 nm region. In the instant invention, deuterated organic salts are defined as salts containing deuterium including perdeuterated salts. Also included are optical devices comprising the same.